Devotional of the Week

by the river……we sat and wept when we remembered Psalm 137:1 

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.  Psalm 56:8

        On the 30^th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima people who had been living in the city on August 6,1945 were invited to create pictorial memories about the day of the bombing and submit them to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Nearly 4000 survivors did exactly that. Their artwork is displayed on a rotating basis.

        The day I visited the museum I was especially drawn to a colorful art piece by Yasuko Onishi. She was 13 years old in 1945. Yasuko was in school at 8:15 am when the bomb fell and after the blast she ran home with a classmate. Yasuko’s house was on the river and she saw that the bridge across the river in front of her house was burned and broken. The place where her house had been standing was empty. Her home had disappeared. It was at this moment she realized that her parents and her two younger sisters must be dead. She and her friend sat down by the river and wept.

           Another art work in the museum was by 63 year old Suemi Nakata who was a young woman at the time of the bombing. She painted a picture of herself watching the mass cremation of dead students. There were so many bodies to be disposed of after the bomb blast there was no time for proper burials or funerals. Bodies of students were removed from schools and universities and were simply cremated in huge piles. Suemi writes in her explanation of the painting……. “even after thirty years thinking of that day I cannot help crying. I wept as I painted the picture.”

           Psalms 137 describes how the children of Israel wept when they were in captivity and were remembering the past. The women of Hiroshima wept as they remembered their past. They recorded their sorrows by drawing pictures of them. God also records our sorrows. Psalm 56:8 reminds us that God keeps track of our sorrows by recording each one in His book. God collects our tears in his bottle, Yasuko’s tears, Suemi’s tears, all our tears.  God knows our sorrows and is there to comfort us.

Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios. Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms.

Song of Solomon 2: 11-13a- The Message

             I grew up in central Canada, in one of the coldest places in the world. We had long winters of blowing snow, Arctic winds and freezing temperatures. The first sign of spring we always looked for were tiny purple crocuses sticking their heads out of the snow. I was lucky enough to visit the country of Japan this spring just as the cherry trees were bursting into bloom.  I have experienced the beginning of many spring seasons in my life but the beauty of spring in Japan is something extraordinary.  Trees are covered in fragrant pink blossoms and provide a stunning backdrop for the arrival of spring.

          Spring is a time of new beginnings and new life. In Japan it is also a time for weddings. During our week in Japan we saw many brides and grooms posing under the blooming cherry trees having their pictures taken. They had chosen to begin their new life as husband and wife at the same time as the natural world all around them was bursting with new life.

     It is very appropriate that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus during the spring season. Jesus’ death offers us a chance for new life as well. Our choice to follow Christ means we are constantly given the opportunity for new beginnings.  The hope we have in Him, allows us to ‘begin again’ each day, each hour, or each minute.

          In each season, in every country of the world, there are gifts of creation that remind us of God’s promises. The cherry blossoms of Japan are surely one of the most beautiful.

God thank you for the gifts of spring. Thank you for the gift of hope we have in you.